I do just that. I take a Minibull, the model with the tube so that it will run on alcohol indefinitely. It is tiny and fist inside another model of Minibull made out of a beer can. That one takes and oz or two of methanol which is fine for boiling 1-2 cups of water for coffee or hot chocolate. The Minibull is good for frying fish, baking coffee cake, simmering rice, etc. I don't cook on the LittlBug apart from boiling water. It can boil a lot of water fast so it is great for dehydrated meals and it works well in wind and rain. it would not be hard to cook with though if you committed to it. I would suggest some type of diffuser disk to temper the heat.

`What do you guys think of those little home made pop can alcohol stoves as back ups to the twig burners ? The littlbug and it's brothers all seem to allow their use. 4 or 5 ounces of denatured alcahol should be good for half a dozen times when nothing dry can be found without spitting wood.  If nothing else,a small splash of alcohol ought to start anything better than a sponge on fire.   A while back,someone in BWJ suggested carrying hand sanitizer as a fire starter. I like my little one burner coleman,but it is kind of bulky and too stinky to keep with my food in my blue barrel.   Making hot water in the mornig would'nt be harder splashing a littie alcohol in that little can stove and touching it off with my bick lighter than getting the larger stove going   . sounds good on paper...

I take a LittlBug Sr. and a Minibull alcohol stove. Works great for dehydrated meals, boiling water, and a little "campfire" from the Bug.

I may bring a littlbug on my next trip.  However, I'll also bring a gas stove backup, (but with less gas).  If the littlbug can provide 80% of my heating needs, it will save me weight and gas.  The gas stove then becomes Plan B when the weather is really crappy and miserable.  That's the plan, for now.

prouboy

I'm glad you Littlbug and loppers worked for you on your trip! The idea of loppers never entered my mind but what with the new Fast bucksaw I'm kinda invested in the saw for now.
My next big mad scientist project is to make some of those fire-starters with the birthday candle! My stars! When did paraffin get to be so expensive? Thanks Solotripper for the instructions!
Best Wishes, Rob

Afew updated comments. I finished an 11 day Quetico trip and a 4 day Canada camping/fishing trip using the LittlBug every day, usually 2-3 times per day.

Aluminum foil does work ok as a bottom. We put the Bug on a cooking grate suche that the coals would otherwise fall out the bottom. We used 3 layers of aluminum foil as a bottom liner and it never melted. Might be different if placed on solid ground but worked fine for us.

It worked great for boiling water in the rain. We had one demoralizing day in Quetico that was cold, windy, and raining all day long. Never even got in the canoe. My buddy firedup the stove for a spaghetti meal, no problem. He did use a fire starter. Having a stash of dry kindling is handy. I have a large bag made out of lightweight blue tarp material (50 cents at Ikea) that packs to nothing but is great for collecting and storing little sticks. That plus a small lopping tool makes for quick work of wood. Once the fire is lit, a few coal form, and you load it up with thicker sticks, you can put on a pan of water. I use a 4 qt aluminum pan with lid. Nearly covers the top of the Bug and makes it water resistent. No way we could have made a camp fire, especially with the gusting wind, but the Bug fired up.

On the other hand, you really don't need any tricks. It works well if you can otherwise build a decent fire. But a lopper, some gloves, a wood bag make life much easier.

Here's a quick tutorial of how I make my "enhanced" wax/lint fire starters.
Sorry I don't have pics.

Melt 1 lb paraffin wax. It's extremely flammable, so to be safe, do it this way.
Take a large tin coffee can that is bent in enough to form a pouring spout.
Put wax in can and set in large pan of boiling water to melt wax.

Take a CARDBOARD egg carton and in each section put a piece of dryer lint.
I roll some in a ball between my palms, you want a piece about the size of a large marble.
Have the lint in place in all sections before you add the melted wax.

While wax is melting, take those trick b-day candles that you can buy in party shops or even a good supermarket. There the kind that you can't blow out no matter how you try.
Cut each candle in half.

Pour wax into carton molds and wait till it starts to set, but not to long and stick the candle straight into the center of fire cube. You want it to get into the lint ball. It should stay straight up unless the wax is to hot.

Let them cool and tear into individual sections. Leave the cardboard on. I put a few in a zip lock bag and put one bag in all my packs.
Build a small tepee of little twigs/branches with fire starter under/inside it.
Light the candle and as the magnesium ignites it sets the small candle melting which ignites the dryer lint which sets the paraffin going. It burns very hot.
Will light wet wood and get the base going for a bigger fire.

I think in a pinch it would burn hot/long enough to heat water in small cup/pot for a quick warm-up in an emergency.

Yeah, I was thinking those firestarters would be good with this.  I have a bag full.  Question on the trick candles -- where and how do you use them?  I never could quite figure that out.  Got pictures?

prouboy

Those conditions are exactly why IMHO anyone who wants/needs a fire brings a small saw big enough to cut a piece of downed wood that even if wet will have a dry center (heart).

Something to split it and initially a fire starter of some kind to get things going.
Birch bark is great and If you run across some, it's a good idea to stash some in a zip lock.

I'm partial to my paraffin wax/ dryer lint/ cardboard egg carton homemade firestarters.
I've added a trick b-day candle center wick to give it a little extra bang.

The magnesium powder in the candlewick makes these burn hot/fast, enough to light even the wettest wood, but the dryer the fuel source the less smoke, although if the bugs are bad, excess smoke might be a good thing..

Prouboy, Re-reading the question you asked about how does the Littlbug work with wet stuff, I think, maybe, we have a little disconnect here. Probably it's caused by the (over) enthusiastic  owner of the new stove. As I understand it, all of these "twig stoves" in one way or another work so well because they provide some draft effect, hot air rising up a chimney, shelter from unhelpful wind and reflection of heat back to the center of the burning material. All these factors allow the burning of some over looked and spurned fuels; twigs, pine cones, buffalo chips etc.
But, if the intended fuel is truly wet, then your fire making efforts are (pardon the pun) dead in the water.
On the off chance that someone might mistake me for a competent fire starter, I must confess I cheat and use a vaseline soaked cotton ball to get thing going.
Best Wishes, Rob